Dark Star
by Built on the Horizon
Summary: I am more powerful than my father, but those extra powers, they weren’t my fault. They changed and twisted me. I saw what I was doing but I couldn’t stop myself. Jason White became the menace, the Dark Star.
1. Chapter 1

**Underground complex, Utah, United States of America.**

'How do you kill a man made of steel? How can you destroy the indestructible?'

The man stopped at the door and turned to the people following him. He smiled coldly. 'You break his heart.'

With that, he opened the door. A giant machine rose before them, rings spun around a central point, the humming was deep and resounding, and white light was everywhere. In the center of this great machine, seemingly floating, laid back, arms outstretched, bathed in light was a muscular figure, a man, clad in nothing but a pair of black shorts.

The man in the business suit waited patiently for the machine to stop spinning and the light to die down.

'Fortunately,' He said, as the second man slowly drifted down, his outstretched arms lowered as he touched the ground, eyes still closed. He looked at peace, but at the same time, energized. 'The man of steel's heart has already begun to crack.'

There was a pause, all eyes trained on the second man. He was extremely well built with a strong jaw. He had dark brown, almost black hair with a hint of a wave in it. A streak of white hair ran across the side of his head. There was an energy radiating from him, he almost looked like he was glowing faint white. His eyes remained closed.

'Dark Star.' The first man spoke.

His eyes snapped open. Deep, otherworldly blue.

'Are you ready?' The man spoke again.

Dark Star smiled a sick, twisted smile. Oh yes, he was.

* * *

**Five years previously: Same complex.**

Sprawled on the floor, the same man gasped for breath. The room was white and padded, a cube, a single lead door on one side, and, most importantly, no windows.

He was dressed in plain white hospital scrubs, barefoot. This was a man who used to stand tall and strong, now he looked weak and pained. At the moment, his hair was just dark.

Two others were in the room with him, a tall thin man in a white lab coat and a large muscular man.

'Who are you?' The scientist repeated.

The man wheezed, but couldn't answer.

The muscular man delivered a few more blows to him; the man rolled over onto his stomach and coughed up blood. Red on white.

'Who are you, what are you?' the scientist demanded. The man just grimaced, he hadn't felt this much pain in his life.

Three more kicks to the gut rolled him over onto his back, after several labored breaths, the man spoke.

'My… my name…'

* * *

_My name is Jason White, and this is my story._

* * *

**_Hey everyone, Built on the Horizon here. I've been lurking on the Superman section for a while now with this mulling in the back of my mind. This will be a Jason centric fic, third person intergrated with first and will start at the start and get progressively darker from there. Please review, I'm rather nervous about posting this. Next chapter should be up soon!_**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter One

_So, this is me then. I am Jason White, known as Jason Richardson for a few years but we'll get to that eventually._

_Lets get one thing straight, I don't want to tell you all this. I don't talk about it if I can avoid it. The only reason I'm telling you is to avoid prison. It wasn't my fault._

_Right, I am 6 foot 3, 215 pounds. I enjoy horror movies and can fly. Most folks used to say I take after my father when I say that, go ahead and say it if you want to, I'll just smile and say thanks, and why not? I am proud to be compared to Richard White. But its lying through my teeth isn't it?_

_Superman hates horror movies._

_Surprised? You should be. As if Superman would father a man as such as myself. Then again, you probably knew that already. But I'm getting ahead of myself again aren't I? That's the trouble with super speed; you can never quite tell when everyone else had caught up with you._

_Start at the start, shall we? Before I lost six years of my life to torture, hatred and destroyed everything I held dear, before I pulled a Superman and ran away, before I lost my mom and before I knew of my heritage._

_I was five years old when Superman returned from his five year holiday –did anyone bother to do the math here? –I actually missed him the first time he flew back into public eye._

_I was playing mouse trap with my dad._

* * *

'Oops! Go back three places.' Dad laughed. Jason stood up and moved his mouse along the board.

'One, two, three.' He counted aloud.

'Good job. Where's that die gone?' Dad began to search around himself.

'There, Dad.' Jason held it out for him.

'Thanks, Sport.' Dad took it off him. His eyes fell on the television that they left running on the news constantly, one of the perks of having two reporters for parents.

'Reports are coming in that the Genesis craft has malfunctioned mid-flight, endangering the lives of the pilots, astronauts and press on the plane. It is unclear what…'

'Dad, you've got to roll.' Jason said, bored of waiting.

Dad swallowed heavily. 'Jason, go into your room, you don't want to see this.'

'But, Dad!'

'Now, Jason.' He ordered.

Obediently, Jason slid off the couch and walked towards his room. He waited at the stairs for a while, watching his dad glued to the screen during the emergency news break. Then he walked into his room and played with his Lego.

He built an airplane and a spaceship.

* * *

_So, that's where I was when Superman returned. I guess its just one of those things, you know, like when JFK got shot, or 9/11, you always know where you were when it happened._

_Meeting Clark Kent however was something completely different._

* * *

Jason watched as Dad went up and hugged and kissed Mommy from Daddy's office window. He had already played with the model plane on Daddy's desk and was bored. They never told Jason that his money could have died, so he didn't find anything wrong about going and saying hello to that big man in glasses he had never seen before.

'Hi.' Jason said, startling the man by appearing suddenly.

'Hi there.' He said with a voice too high to belong to a man that big.

'Who are you?' Jason asked.

'Oh, I'm Clark Kent. I'm an old friend of your mom's, from before you were born.' Mr. Kent explained.

'Really?' Jason asked with all the innocence of a five year old. 'She never mentioned you.'

Mr. Kent looked shocked. 'Really? Never?'

'Nope.'

* * *

_Regular old klutz, Mr. Kent was. Notice the was, but we'll get to that eventually. I promise, just one more memory from all the stuff you already know about, you have heard the famous story about New Krypton, haven't you? Good. Well, just before that, I figured something out that no-one else on earth had ever noticed, and I was five! I never cease to be amazed at how ignorant humans can be if they want to be._

* * *

'There is no doubt about it; Superman is back in all of our lives.' The reported said with a prominent Australian accent. Cheering and whooping came from the crowd surrounding her.

Jason looked up at the screens above him, still holding on to his mother's hand. He saw Mr. Kent looking down at him through his oversized glasses. His eyes were really blue. Then Jason saw the screens behind Mr. Kent, pictures of Superman flashing across them. Superman had really blue eyes too. And the same chin and…

Appropriately, Jason had an asthma attack.

* * *

_Yeah, first day I met him and I already knew that Clark Kent was Superman. Even Mom, fearless reporter that she was never… Anyway, enough of that. Lets skip right over the New Krypton incident, past my first killing –accidental or not –over the part where Superman was comatose and straight on to my nightmare._

* * *

_Water, swirling, trapped, Mommy's not moving, door smashing closed, no way out, Dad gasping for breath, hold on, hold on, Superman will come, Superman will save us, nothing's happening, water's everywhere, silence, water swirling, gasping, no more air, Superman's not coming, they're going to die._

Jason gasped for breath, sitting up in bed, shivering as the nightmare faded. Strong arms held him, comforted him, and rubbed his back as his asthma faded.

Once his breathing got back to normal, Jason blinked and took in the form holding him. That wasn't his Daddy.

'Superman!' Jason said, jumping out of his arms and forcing a sniff down, he didn't want to look like a little kid in front of _Superman._

'Are you alright?' Superman asked.

Jason nodded. ''s jus' a nightmare.'

'Do you want to talk about it?' Superman asked gently. His voice wasn't as deep as he usually had it when he was wearing the cape, and it wasn't as high as when he was pretending to be Mister Clark.

Jason just shook his head stubbornly.

Superman jerked his head to the side, eyes narrowed as he listened to something far away. 'I have to go.' He said, standing up from the edge of Jason's bed.

'Wait!' Jason said, gripping his arm. 'I made you something.'

Superman turned and waited as Jason leaned over and pulled something out of his bedside table. He held it out to Superman.

'What is it?' Superman asked, taking it off him.

'It's glasses.' Jason said as Superman unfolded the paper glasses. 'So you can see when you're flying and don't run into things.'

Superman faltered. 'What makes you think I'd run into things?'

'Because you always do. You fall over and trip and knock things over.' Jason said, almost bouncing on his bed.

'When?'

'When you're at the _Planet_.' Jason said slowly; as if he was explaining something obvious.

'When was I at the _Planet_?' Superman asked.

Jason groaned. 'You're always at the _Planet_; you work there when you're pretending to be Mister Clark.'

Superman's eyes widened.

'What?' Jason asked.

'How…' Superman swallowed and tried again. 'How did you know?'

Confusion flicked across Jason's face. 'You look the same.'

Superman took a deep breath and sat down on the edge of Jason's bed. 'You can't tell anyone that I'm Clark, okay?'

'Why not?'

'I don't want bad people to know.' Superman said.

'I won't tell the bad people. They scare me.' Jason looked away; he didn't like Superman thinking he was scared.

'Me too.' Superman said sadly. 'But I can't risk anyone hurting my family.'

'Your family?' Jason asked, intrigued.

Superman froze for an instant before nodding slowly. 'I have a mom and I don't want anyone to hurt her.'

'I don't want anyone to hurt my mom either.' Jason said softly, a scene replaying in his head, a piano flying through the air.

Superman swallowed. 'Also, as Clark Kent, I can watch over your mom and make sure she doesn't get into any trouble.'

This puzzled Jason, couldn't he do the same thing as Superman?

'I have to go.' Superman said again, standing up.

'Okay.' Jason said, snuggling into his bed.

'Go to sleep.' Superman said softly before flying out the window, still clutching a pair of paper glasses.

* * *

_Ahh, the innocence of a five year old. He's still got those glasses somewhere, along with every drawing I ever gave him, in either disguise. So that's how it was when I was growing up. Every night Superman would come and visit and every day I would sit at Clark Kent's desk drawing pictures. Like every kid, heck, every person in Metropolis, I loved Superman, and the fact he came and saw me every night made me feel special._

**Hey! Please review, I know its starting off slow but it will get really quick really fast, I promise.**


	3. Chapter 3

_

* * *

_

My parents, all three of them, they never kept my heritage from me; I guess they thought I'd figure it out eventually. I sorta knew about six, seven years old, but I don't think I ever really connected it all together before I was nine.

_Dad did, Richard, that is, he figured it out Easter Sunday when I was six. We were hunting for eggs and I was convinced one was under the lounge, so I picked it up. One handed, as casual as anything. There was much yelling and arguing between my Mom and Dad after that, but it was all settled by the next morning._

_They never split up while I was growing up, they never got married either. I'm still not sure what they had. They tried though, to stay together, but Mom stopped wearing his ring some days. For years, they still slept in the same bed, but Dad eventually took up residence in the second bedroom. We never moved, Dad even went on a few dates when I was older, none of them lasting more than two, he was still in love with Mom, even though…_

_They never argued in front of me, I think I was the entire reason for the façade, trying to give some stability to my obviously frail life. I was constantly sick as a child, then I had to deal with my emerging superpowers, having two reporters for parents, Superman was my father and only visited at night, keeping secrets from five years old… it's a wonder I didn't go mad sooner!_

_Now, let's get one thing straight. I never call Superman/Clark Kent Dad, he did nothing to earn that title, and I never call Richard Father. Dad is Richard, he always was. Clark is my father, its more formal, more strained, like our relationship, and it never fails to remind me of the Fortress and the reason I hated him. Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, that's right. Let's skip along to when I was seven years old. The best memory I have of my father, the only time he did anything remotely dad-like was when I was a little over seven years old._

* * *

'Perry, I don't care what lead I'm following; there is no way I am taking Jason into Gotham city.' Lois yelled.

'So get a baby sitter.' Perry shrugged.

'For a week?' Lois asked pointedly.

'Well, I suppose that would just be incentive to finish the story quicker.' Perry shot back.

'Richard is in China and wont be back for another two weeks, and by that time the lead will be long gone. I'm not leaving Jason alone and I am not taking him with me into the most crime-ridden city I know of.' Lois hit the desk in frustration.

'I'm sure you'll figure something out.' Perry said, motioning for her to leave.

'You're impossible, you know that?' Lois snapped as she slammed the door behind her.

Across the bull-pit, Clark turned to Jason. 'I have an idea.'

* * *

'I heard you were having trouble finding accommodation for Jason.' Superman said, floating down onto Lois' back lawn.

Lois turned to him, a hand on her heart to slow it down. 'You scared me.' She snapped.

'I'm sorry.' Superman bowed his head. 'Is it true?'

Lois sighed. 'Yeah. Perry wants me to follow up a lead about an underground crime-lord, which takes me to the crime capital of the world, Gotham City.'

'You don't feel comfortable about taking Jason there.' Superman stated.

'Heck no.' Lois sighed in frustration. 'But there doesn't look like any other option.'

There was a long pause before Superman spoke again. 'I could take him.'

Lois snorted. 'Superman babysitting, that's something I've never heard of before.'

Superman winced as if he'd been slapped in the face. Lois saw his reaction and hastily apologized.

'I'm sorry.'

'No, I deserved it.' Superman didn't meet her eyes.

'Where would you take him?' Lois asked.

'Somewhere safe.' He assured her.

Lois closed her eyes for a moment. 'What if the world needs saving?'

Superman looked at her then looked away again. 'If the world needs saving then I will be there to save it.'

'And Jason?'

'Will still be safe.' Superman took a step towards her. 'Lois, I would never take Jason away from you and Richard.'

'I know you wouldn't.' Lois said. 'But I don't like the idea of being away from my baby for so long.'

'I could arrange for a visit. He would be near by.' Superman said.

'Where?' Lois challenged. 'Where in Gotham is safe?'

Superman chose his words very carefully. 'I have made an acquaintance with a resident there.'

'Who?' Lois demanded.

The corner of Superman's mouth jerked up in a smile. He looked down at himself, at the Suit, then up at Lois.

Lois' mouth made an "o" of surprise. 'No…'

Superman's smile turned into a good humored smirk.

'That's front page material.' Lois muttered. Superman knew her too well to think that she would publish it though.

'So Jason will be staying with the Dark Knight? I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that, either.'

'Although his methods may be different, his goal is the same as mine. He's a good man.' Superman said gently, but forcefully, his blue eyes flashing in defense of his friend.

'Bat.' Lois quipped. She breathed heavily and paced for a moment. 'You're sure?'

'I am.' Superman nodded

Lois sighed and surrendered. 'You know what? Alright, you two deserve some time together. You can pick him up at six tomorrow night.'

Superman's heart swelled inside of him. This translated directly into movement as he hovered several inches off the ground.

Lois' eyes flickered down to his boots then up to his face. 'Eager.' She said, and then she stopped and spoke quieter. 'I'm sorry it's taken you this long to get time with him.'

Superman replied in kind. 'I'm sorry I missed all the times I should have been there for him.' His words carried more meaning than what was spoken and they both understood.

'There's more of his life to come, Superman, there's always hope.' Lois said.

Superman smiled gently before floating upwards. 'I'll see you tomorrow, Lois.'

Lois smiled; it was nice not to hear the vague "around" he always used.

* * *

Perched high on the edge of a high building in the middle of Gotham, Batman looked like a statue. He stared, unblinkingly, unseeingly into the busy underbelly of the great city. Dozen's of thoughts flicked through his mind at once, flitting in and out of his thoughts.

_Like bats_, he thought ruefully.

A ruffle of movement came from behind him. Barely a sound, less than a whisper, but he picked up on it, there were no outward signs that Batman had noticed, but every muscle in his body was on high alert.

A hand gripped his shoulder and in one smooth, deathly motion, Batman gripped the hand and whirled around, burying his forearm gauntlet into the intruders arm.

Or so he thought.

The scalloped metal bent out of shape as it contacted with the blue clad arm.

Green eyes flicked up to meet blue.

Batman growled as he released the other hero's arm. He inspected his broken gauntlet annoyed.

'Do you know how hard it is to fix these?' He asked, keeping his voice gruff.

'I'm sorry.' Superman smirked. 'I didn't think your first instinct would be to maim whoever wanted to talk to you.'

'Watch your tongue, S,' Batman growled, but using the affectionate nickname. 'That's my territory you're standing on.'

Superman's eyes flicked down to his boots and in response, he hovered a few inches off the ground.

'You're violating my airspace?' Batman tried again. He stood from his crouch and eyed the superhero. 'What brings you to my neck of the woods?'

Superman landed gracefully. 'I need to you to take care of someone.'

'Someone?' Beneath his cowl, Batman's eyebrows raised. Superman frequently asked for storage space, but never a person before.

'In the off chance I may not be there.' Superman said cryptically, the meaning was received. 'Also, I wanted to meet up.'

'Back door's always open.' Batman nodded.

'I'll see you tomorrow.' Superman rose again. 'Around seven.'

'I'll be there.' Batman nodded again and returned his gaze to his city.

With a flutter of a cape, the man of steel was gone. The exchange seemed natural but it was tense, there were things Superman wasn't telling him.

* * *

_Can I just say, at this point, everything was already strained between everyone involved. And let no one tell you I was oblivious to it all, because I was. I remember times where I had to stay at Uncle Perry's house because the arguing was so bad at home. Weeks when Dad would avoid Mom like the plague, and the other way around. I hate to say this, but during it all Superman was the one thing closest to a rock that I had to cling to. Every night like clockwork, he'd fly into my room, or hover outside the window when it was closed against the wind or rain, spend a few precious minutes there before he was gone again. Always around, and always gone. Man, I am so messed up!_

* * *

**_Just to note, this will not be centering on Batman, he'll just feature. Please please please review! I'm not sure if I should hang on to this story or not! What are your thoughts so far?_**


	4. Chapter 4

'Are you sure you packed everything?' Mom fussed.

'I'm sure, mom.' Jason replied, a little more than annoyed.

Mom sighed and handed the small suitcase to their guest. Superman took it.

'You keep safe, and if you ever want to come home, you just tell Superman and he'll bring you straight back, you understand?' Mom was crouching down to Jason's level.

Jason nodded.

'Good boy.' She patted his shoulder and stood, looking Superman in the eye.

'If anything happens…' She told him, warning dripping off her voice.

'If anything happens to him, I'll kill myself rather than face you.' Superman's words were heavy with meaning.

Lois nodded almost imperceptibly.

'Go on, kiddo.' She gently pushed him in the direction of his father. Jason nervously walked up to Superman, unsure of what to do. He had never flown with the superhero except for getting rescued from the flooding ship, a nightmare which still haunted him.

'Can I pick you up, Jason?' Superman asked, sensing his nervousness.

Jason nodded hesitantly. Before he knew what was happening, he was sitting on Superman's hip, being held there with only one hand. Jason instinctively wrapped his arms around Superman's neck.

'I'll see you in a week, honey, or earlier.' Mom waved at him looking quite small suddenly, then Jason realized, they were already hovering outside the window.

'Bye bye Mommy!' Jason called out. 'I love you!'

'Love you too, munchkin!'

'Hold on tight.' Superman said and suddenly, they were gone.

As they rose, higher and higher into the clouds, Jason turned to Superman. 'What am I supposed to call you?'

Superman faltered, but he never broke his flight speed. 'You have to call me Mister Clark or Superman, remember?'

'Yeah, but this week it's just us. Cant I call you something else?'

Superman smiled. 'You know I'm your father, don't you?'

Jason nodded, the full meaning lost on him.

'You could call me dad.' Superman said softly.

'But you're not.' Jason said, oblivious to Superman cringing. 'Daddy's dad.'

'Okay, what about Father?' Superman tried again, looking into the horizon.

Jason wrinkled his nose. 'That sounds a bit funny, but okay.'

'It's what I call my biological father.' Father said.

Jason shifted in his arms a little. 'Do you have another daddy too?'

'I did. Both died, before you were born.' Father looked away. 'Jor-El, my Kryptonian father died on Krypton. Jonathon Kent, my adoptive father raised me here.'

'Like Daddy is my daddy and you are my father.' Jason summarized. 'Jor-El is a funny name.'

'It's Kryptonian.' Father said, eyes fixed on the horizon. 'Do you know what Krypton is?'

Jason nodded. 'That's where you're from.'

'That's right. Jor-El is a funny name because it's from Krypton. Kal-El is my Kryptonian name.'

'That's funny.' Jason giggled. 'Do I have a Kryptonian name?'

Father paused for a moment. 'You're not Kryptonian.'

'Oh.' Jason hung his head. 'But I can fly.'

Father looked shocked. 'What?'

Jason grinned at the wind whipping through his hair. 'I'm flying!' He called out to his Father.

Father laughed and held him out in front, letting him feel the exhilaration and speeding up a bit. Instead of having one arm out in front in a fist like his father, Jason stretched his arms _behind_ him, forming a V shape.

Jason wriggled unexpectantly, almost causing his father to drop him. 'Let me go!' He demanded. 'I want to fly!'

Father gasped and pulled him in, closer to his chest. 'Don't do that again, Jason.' He scolded.

'But you're holding me back; I want to learn to fly now.' Jason demanded.

'You're too young to fly now. You'd just fall.'

'You'd catch me.' Jason huffed. 'And I won't fall!'

'You don't know that, Jason.' Father said. 'And you can't fly yet.'

Jason met his father's eyes, defiant. 'Why not? You can!'

Father gritted his teeth. 'I'm older than you; I've had a lot more time to learn how to control it.'

Jason crossed his arms and hunched his shoulders, staring out into the horizon determinedly.

It was a long time before Father spoke again.

'I'm sorry, Jason. It's just, you can't control your powers yet, and I don't want you hurting yourself or anyone else by accident.'

Jason accepted this explanation, but it didn't mean he had to like it.

* * *

_Oh yes, those words were playing over and over in my head for the next…ever. I always thought it was just an excuse for me not to upstage him. I was such a fool, never seeing the meaning behind the words. Oh well, it can't be helped. What's done is done._

* * *

Clark hovered by the waterfall leading into the Bat Cave, his son wriggling on his hip.

'Are we really going to meet Batman?' Jason asked in a hushed voice.

Clark chuckled. 'Yes we are.'

Jason looked into the rushing water. He curled into his father chest. 'I don't want to go in there.'

'You're going to be fine, Jason.' Clark assured him. 'Batman is actually quite friendly.'

Jason squeezed his eyes shut. He just didn't get it. 'No, I'll get wet.'

Confused, Clark grabbed hold of his cape and held it over their heads. 'There you go, now you won't get wet.'

Jason shook his head. He didn't want to do this, he didn't.

'I'll go really fast; you won't even know we went through.' Clark promised.

Then they were moving, and then they weren't.

'What are you doing? You've never hidden under your cape to avoid talking to me before!' A voice called.

Clark looked at Jason, humor glinting in his eyes. He threw off the cape and met Bruce's eyes.

Bruce stopped dead, thigh deep in murky water. His eyes flicked back and forth between Clark's and Jason's.

Clark looked at Jason. 'Jason, I would like to introduce you to my good friend, Bruce Wayne, Batman.' Clark looked to Bruce. 'Bruce, this is my son.'

* * *

_I've got to tell you, seeing the Prince of Gotham and the Dark Knight standing thigh deep in murky water with his mouth hanging open is quite entertaining. I wish I had a camera. Bruce had just finished his nightly patrol of Gotham and was dressed in the Bat suit, minus the cape and cowl, and my gaze was fixed firmly to the bat symbol on his chest. Anyway, enough interrupting from me, on with the story of my life._

* * *

Bruce's mouth moved silently. Finally, he managed to conjure up some words. 'He's your…'

'He's my son.' Clark completed for him.

'You didn't tell me-'

'I didn't know.' Clark admitted.

Bruce overcame his surprise and took a step forward.

'Hello, Jason.' He said. 'I'm Bruce.'

'Hi.' Jason replied shyly.

'Here.' Bruce held out his arm to Clark. 'I'll take him across.'

Clark laughed. 'Any excuse will do.'

He handed Jason over who immediately began tracing the bat on Bruce's chest. 'Are you really Batman?' He asked in a hushed voice.

Bruce nodded. 'The one and only. I could show you my cape and mask if you want.'

Jason looked at him, awestruck. He put his hands together like two shadow puppet ducks and lifted his pinkies, making a sort of half mask with pointed ears. He put his hands up against Bruce's face, trying to imagine him in the mask, squinting.

'This is so cool.' Jason grinned.

'Looks like you've got a new number one fan.' Clark laughed.

'What can I say?' Bruce shrugged. 'The kid's got taste.'

He turned and started wading through the water, Jason still on his hip. Clark hovered across the water quickly, landing on the bank. Suddenly, Jason buried his face in Bruce's chest.

'Whoa, what is it kiddo?' Bruce asked, bouncing Jason to get a better hold.

Jason looked at him with worried eyes. In a hushed voice, he spoke.

'Please don't drop me, Mister Wayne, water scares me.'

Bruce frowned. 'First of all, it's Bruce. Come on, I'll get you to the other side.'

Across the water, Clark landed and shook hands with Bruce's butler.

'Alfred.' He grinned. 'It's been too long.'

The old man smiled and returned the firm grip. 'Indeed it has. Will you and your guest.' He nodded to Bruce and Jason wading through the water. 'Be staying long?'

'He'll be staying the week.' Clark answered, confused at how easily Alfred took it all in. 'I'll be dropping in and out.'

'More comfortable clothes, sir?'

'That would be great, Alfred.' Clark smiled, distracted. Alfred took Jason's suitcase off Clark and left.

Once Bruce got to the bank, he sat Jason down on a rock.

'Want to know a secret?' Bruce said, his voice dropping to a conspiracy whisper. 'I'm scared of bats.'

Jason's mouth hung open.

'I am!' Bruce insisted. 'When I was a little older than you, a whole heap of them swarmed at me, I've been scared of them ever since.'

'But you're Batman!'

'I know, crazy, isn't it?'

Jason nodded and Bruce continued.

'I learnt to control my fear and now I've made my enemy's fear me as much as I'm scared of bats!'

Jason nodded but still looked unsure.

Bruce tried a different tactic. 'Why are you scared of water?'

Jason sniffed. 'It was scary, Mom took me onto a boat and there was a bad, bald man there. I did something horrible and they locked us in a kitchen. But Dad flew in and found us, but the door was closed and th- the water was coming in. Mom hit her head and Dad couldn't do anything.'

Bruce frowned but let him continue.

'The water was coming in and Dad was holding onto us… and I didn't know what was going to happen to us… I thought we were g-going to-'

'Hey, its okay, its okay.' Bruce soothed. 'What happened then?'

Jason visibly brightened. 'Then Superman saved us!'

Bruce did a double take. He glanced over his shoulder at Clark.

'Did he? That's great.' Bruce muttered. 'What's your mommy's name?'

'Lois Lane.'

'And your daddy?'

'Richard White.'

'What about him?' Bruce asked, pointing at Clark who was having a look around the new installments into the cave, pretending not to listen.

'That's…' Jason faltered. 'That's Superman, don't you know that?'

'Yes, but, don't you know that he has another name?'

Jason nodded, excited Bruce knew too. 'Yeah! Mister Clark!'

'How did you find out?

'I figured it out. But I have to be really careful what I call him. Mister Kent when he's wearing glasses. Superman when he's in the Suit and Father if we're alone.' Jason summarized, ticking them off on his fingers.

Bruce thought for a moment. 'Jason, how old are you?'

'I'm seven.'

'So, that would make you what? Five years old when Superman came back?'

'Four and a bit.' Jason corrected.

'Huh…' Bruce looked like he was going to ask another question when the rackety sound of the elevator echoed through the cave. He stood and called out to Alfred. 'Is the bedroom ready?'

'Yes, sir.' Alfred replied.

'You'd better be off to bed.' Bruce said to Jason. 'Big week ahead.'

Jason giggled with excitement before running over to Clark. He looked unsure of what to do for a while.

'Good night, Jason.' Clark smiled warmly.

Jason finally decided in hugging his father's legs. Clark beamed.

''Night!' He waved, climbing onto the elevator with Alfred.

Clark smiled again and waved back. 'Good night!' And he kept waving until the elevator rose out of sighed. He sighed contentedly and dropped his hand.

Then he was rammed backwards into a wall.

'What the hell were you thinking, Kent?' Bruce said angrily, the name catching his attention.

'I-'

'Four and a bit years old?' Bruce challenged.

'Yes.' He admitted quietly.

Bruce groaned in frustration. 'I never picked you for the love them and leave them type, Kent, and with Lois of all people!'

Clark grit his teeth. 'It wasn't like that!'

'Well, what was it like?' Bruce yelled.

Clark shuddered a breath. 'She was a wreck, Bruce.' Clark said quietly. 'She knew everything, she knew about me, and she was a wreck.'

Bruce's eyes narrowed.

'She was always worrying, crying.' Clark continued. 'And Luthor… they threatened her, used her to get to me and they didn't even know I was anything but a press contact. Imagine what they would do to her if they knew…'

'Well she doesn't know now. What happened?' Bruce asked.

'I… I wiped her memory. She forgot everything about it. She forgot us.'

Bruce started. That was one power he didn't know about.

'What about this Richard White? Is he Perry's kid?' He asked.

'Nephew.' Clark corrected. 'He thought he was Jason's father before. He raised him as his own. Jason loves him.'

Bruce gave a humorless chuckle. 'And I suppose that's the only thing keeping him from six feet under.'

Clark's head snapped up. 'I would never harm him, regardless.'

'Just answer me this, Clark, just one question.' Bruce said. 'If Jason didn't know about Clark, would you have told him?'

Clark couldn't answer him.

* * *

_That week was one of the best weeks of my life. Not just because I was staying with Batman. My Father stayed, for the most part. He made a deliberate attempt to be seen as much as possible in Metropolis to "avoid suspicion"._

_Bruce Wayne taught me to swim again. It was nice, not being scared. Within two days, I was doing laps for the first time in years, better than I had ever done before. Mom came to visit, only in the cave though, and Superman had to take a confusing route to get there._

_Bruce is a great guy, he let me do whatever I wanted, and even joined in. I never called him "Uncle Bruce" or something equally corny or anything, just Bruce. When I was growing up, he didn't mind if I flew by every now and then, he even let me borrow some of his toys once in a while. Bruce also taught me to fight, mostly the "right way to fight", without using too much strength, the way that would me most effective in stopping, not hurting the enemy, so don't blame him for it._

* * *

**Sorry it's been so long, I have almost completely gone off fanfic at the moment, been busy, but I will update everything later, I promise! I know these chapters dont make much sense, I didn't write in convienient break points. Thanks all for reviewing! Please review!!**


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